Parable of the Good Samaritan - LOVE GOD

"On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.  'Teacher,' he asked 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?'  'What is written in the Law?'  Jesus replied, 'How do you read it?'  He answered:  'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;.........." 
Luke 10:25-27

This is the first of a 2 part series where we will be studying in depth "The Golden Rule" - which is "love your neighbor."

Before we can "love our neighbor" we must first love God - The most important thing in each one of our lives should be our relationship with God.  No matter what stage of life we are in and no matter what situation we might find ourselves in - our Lord God Almighty must be first and foremost in our lives.

Let's break down today's verse:

1.  Love God with all your HEART - our "heart" is our emotions and our feelings.  "ALL" means the good and the bad.  Most people will only think of positive attributes when talking about "love" - but if we are to love God with "all" our heart then that means we have to deal with the negative also.  When we love someone and are feeling sad, angry or afraid - you go to that loved person and talk about it and work out whatever the problem is.   It doesn't matter what we are trying to hide in our heart - bring it "all" to our Heavenly Father and love God with all that is in your heart.  Love is not ignoring the bad but working through the bad and turning it into good. 

2.  Love God with all your SOUL - our "soul" is the deepest part of our being - I think of it as our motives, our intentions and our spirit.  The most inner part of our essence that can only be seen by God.  Our motives at times will shine through our actions but for the most part this is something that people cannot see and sometimes we might not even recognize our own true motive.  Love God with all your "soul" realizing that God is seeing every tiny bit of your being - every millimeter inside & out.

3.  Love God with all your STRENGTH - our "strength" is our actions and our time.  Also, I believe that if we are to love God with all our "strength" that means the best quality - to the best of our ability.  This "strength" includes the other 3 ways to love God as seen in this verse:  actions that are whole hearted, actions that have the right motives & actions performed with the correct thoughts.

4.  Love God with all your MIND - our "mind" is our thoughts.  A few months ago I did a Sunday post on the importance of our thoughts:  
Please read "Think Good Thoughts". This explains how I believe that God wants us to love Him with all our "mind."

As you can see - loving God with "all" of our HEART, SOUL, STRENGTH & MIND means using every ounce, every square inch, every part of our being.

Part 2 - LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
 

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